Bourbon, By Master Distiller Jimmy Russell: 5 Things Men Should Know

Bourbon: 5 Things Men Should Know

In Kentucky we drink three fingers of bourbon. You know what three fingers is?

All kinds of people want to give you advice, but for our buck, we'll hear from a guy who's spent his life making bourbon and loves his job so much he wouldn't mind going seven days a week. Jimmy Russell joined Wild Turkey in 1964 and today he remains the master distiller, grooming his son Eddie to one day take over the reins.

We sat down for lunch with Jimmy to find out what he's learned making one of America's oldest and most recognizable spirits. His wisdom is an artisan's: It tells as much about America over the past 50 years as it does about the man himself.

Here are five things we learned from a southern gentleman who can drink us all under the table 10 times over, but would never admit to it.

1- Men drink bourbon straight

“I've never been drunk, I've never had a hangover. What it is, it depends on the bourbons. And I don't want to get technical now here, but bourbon is high in fusel oils and if you start mixing them with sugars — Cokes and things like that — you're gonna have a bad hangover the next day. I drink Wild Turkey neat. We don't have that in ours.”

2- You can't drink bourbon everywhere

“We're in the Southern Bible Belt. All through the south it's that way [dry]. You been to Dallas, Texas? That's always been an amazing state to me. You can be walking down the street in Dallas, sit in a bar and have a drink. Walk a block up and it's dry, can't sell. But Texas has the brown bag law. If you're in a dry county, you can go into a restaurant and take you're own bottle — sit there and pour your own drinks — as long is you keep it covered up.”

3- Young often people prefer bourbon to Scotch

“Japan and Australia are huge bourbon fans. Now, when I first started going to Japan it was Scotch. Everything was Scotch, Scotch, Scotch — Scotch. Now it's about opposite. It's bourbon, bourbon, bourbon, and Scotch. You younger people don't want to drink what dad drinks.”

4- Follow the three finger rule

“You know, in Kentucky we drink three fingers of bourbon. You know what three fingers is?” (Spreads his hand wide and points to his thumb, middle finger and pinky.) “We use a water glass for the bourbon and a shot glass for the water.”

5- Distilleries smell like apples

“People tell me, I hate to get up and go to work. I can count that on one hand. I'd go seven days a week. You know, on Saturdays and Sundays I may go out there and sit around for an hour or so. But my wife, she likes to go out there, too. She likes to go in the spring of the year and the fall of the year. Those storage buildings, when that bourbon starts cooling off in the fall, that aroma smells like a good ripe apple.”